Pope Benedict defrocked 400 priests over child abuse in 2 years
In his last two years as pope, Benedict defrocked nearly 400 priests for raping and molesting children, more than twice as many as the two years that preceded a 2010 explosion of sex-abuse cases in Europe and beyond, according to an analysis of Vatican statistics.
In his last two years as pope, Benedict defrocked nearly 400 priests for raping and molesting children, more than twice as many as the two years that preceded a 2010 explosion of sex-abuse cases in Europe and beyond, according to an analysis of Vatican statistics.
It was the first compilation of the number of priests forcibly removed for sex abuse by the Vatican's in-house procedures - and a canon lawyer said the real figure was likely far higher, since the numbers do not include sentences meted out by diocesan courts.
The rapid rise started a year after the Vatican decided to double the statute of limitations on the crime, enabling victims who were in their late 30s to report abuse committed against them when they were children.
The Vatican has actually made some data public year by year in its annual reports. But an internal Vatican document prepared to help the Holy See defend itself before a United Nations committee last week in Geneva compiled the statistics over the course of several years. Analysis of the raw data cited in that document confirmed the figures.
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's UN ambassador in Geneva, on Thursday told the UN human rights committee 418 new cases of child sex abuse were reported to the Vatican in 2012.